House panel to look at TV internet portal

A day after the Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing on the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet will follow suit. According to an inside-the-Beltway daily, tapping television sets for internet access will be on the Subcommittee agenda.

The Senate hearing is on the calendar for Wednesday, 4/14/10, and will feature FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski as sole witness. It is rescheduled from an earlier date in March.

For Rick Boucher’s Subcommittee, it will be the second go-around on NBP, following a March session featuring all five FCC commissioners. According to The Hill’s Hillicon Valley blog, it will look at the availability of competitive navigation devices and the use of set-top boxes and television sets in forwarding NBP.

The set-top box idea is thought to be an alternative point of internet access for those who do not own personal computers.